Running head: Government Shutdown Community Problem Report

Exploring the Government Shutdown By: Dafne Olivares, Brandon Cox, Alexis Mejia, and Alex Salas University of Texas at El Paso

Government Shutdown Community Problem Report Abstract

On the first of October The United States Congress came to a conclusion to temporarily shut down the government, due to the disagreement for a budget and also the Affordable Healthcare Act proposed by President Barrack Obama. This issue generated several questions about the Government Shut Down such as: What caused the current Government shut down and the history of prior shutdowns? What are the reasons that the senate and the House of Representatives were unable to collaborate on a budget? How will the shutdown affect the American people? What proposed policy changes can be made by the Government in order to prevent a shutdown in the future? In the first section of the text, the question of who or what has caused government shutdowns was answered by research that Congress and the government itself are the ones held responsible for the temporary closure of our government. After explaining the causes and effects of the current government shutdown it was concluded that there are several policies that can be put into action to be able to prevent government shutdown in the future. Keywords: Congress, Government Shutdown, collaboration, proposed policy

Government Shutdown Community Problem Report Introduction Government shutdowns occur when Congress is unable to come to an agreement on budgeting measures in time, thus creating a funding gap or in some cases a partial halt in government services and agencies. Although some government shutdowns have had a greater impact than others, it is important to understand that all shutdowns affect our economy and our society in negative ways. This report gives an overview of what happened during the shutdown covering key points like the causes of the shutdown, history of previous shutdowns, who and what the shutdown affected, and what policy changes could be made to help prevent a Government shutdown in the future. What Are The Causes Of Government Shutdowns? In the article "Here Is Every Previous Government Shutdown, Why They

Happened, and How They Ended" by Dylan Matthews (2013), we are informed that there have been a total of 17 government shutdowns throughout the course of history. However, not all shutdowns have resulted in an actual stop to government functioning. Most government shutdowns that have taken place in the past were simply funding gaps and only affected the specific agencies, which were in lack of funds. Although not all shutdowns have taken place for the same reasons, they all have one factor in common; the inability of congress to come to an agreement on a budgeting system. As we take a look at the history of government shutdowns, we discover the real causes behind these congressional budget disagreements. According to the article History of Shutdowns Explored by Connie Cass, (2013), shutdowns tend to occur when the President and one or both houses of chambers of congress are unable to resolve disagreements over budget allocations. When these

Government Shutdown Community Problem Report budget issues are not solved by the time that the existing budget cycle ends the agency, which has run out of funds, is usually put on a temporary halt. During these temporary

government shutdowns, federal workers are sent home and unable to return to work until the budgeting issue has been dealt with. However, these shutdowns could end up costing the government millions in the long run. For example, Cass (2013) explains to us that the first fatal government shutdown happened in 1995 when Bill Clinton was in office. The Democratic president and the Republican House speaker seemed to disagree on many federal issues; such as Medicare, tax cuts, aid for the poor, and budget deficit. Their disagreements led up to two separate shutdowns. The first shutdown lasted only six days, but the second was the longest shutdown in history, lasting 21 days. This was the first government shutdown in history that affected the American people directly, and the public was outraged. It took a total of three weeks for both men to finally settle their disputes, but by this time the U.S. had already felt the massive impact of the shutdown. The 1995 shutdown was assumed to have taught politicians the folly of ever again powering down the most powerful government. (Cass, 2013). However, the uprising of the 2013 shutdown proved that the catty Congress had not quite learned their lesson. Although the shutdown of 2013 has many similarities to the shutdown of 1995, seeing as the budget disagreements are somewhat parallel as to what they were back then, it remains to be seen which one overall will be more damaging to the wellbeing of American democracy. In the article 3 Reasons the 2013 Government Shutdown is Nothing like 1995, Neil Bhavsar explains to us that we originally entered the 2013 shutdown for lack of a budget for the 2014 fiscal year, however the Affordable Healthcare Act was still one of main centers of controversy during this shutdown.

Government Shutdown Community Problem Report

(Bhavsar, 2013). Political fights over this and other issues between the House on one side and President Obama and the Senate on the other led to a budget impasse which could end up being very damaging. During the shutdown, approximately 800,000 federal employees were furloughed, and another 1.3 million were required to report to work without known payment dates. The shutdown lasted a total of 16 days, which made it the third longest shutdown in history. As shutdowns continue to take place throughout the course of history, we begin to realize that they all have the same cause: budget disagreements amongst Congress. Although the disagreements may vary from health care, to education funding, and even tax cuts, it is certain that Congress will continue to disagree with each other over many issues, thus leading to federal government conflicts in the future. Why Was Congress Unable To Collaborate On A Budget? The reasons the Senate and the House of Representatives were unable to collaborate on a budget came from the differences between the two political parties the democrats and republicans and their beliefs on the Affordable Healthcare and debtceiling crisis. Most republicans are not for the new health care reform and do not want to increase the budget to a count for the funding needed for the new act. Most republicans feel We can't win," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. According to the article U.S. Shuts Down for the First Time in 17 Years by David Espo, Republicans wanted to counter the offer from democrats sent out for the changes to Affordable Care (2013). The counter offer sent out by the Republicans would be to hold back the Affordable Health Care Act for another year, but this offer was denied because the act was already passed and was ready to go into action on October 1st. Republicans decided not to agree on a budget

Government Shutdown Community Problem Report

since their proposal for the health care act to be pushed back was denied. This would put our government on hold and affects our debt ceiling, which is the budget used to pay off the U.S. bills. Without a budget we could not pay our bills as a country. Obama spoke: You don't get to extract a ransom for doing your job, for doing what you're supposed to be doing anyway, or just because there's a law there that you don't like, he spoke towards the republicans retaining the budget because of Affordable Health Care Act and wanting to delay the bill. The Republicans believed their offer was justified because the Affordable Health Care Act would increase the United States budget and raise taxes. Republicans feel that there is no need to increase the budget and take away money from hard working American to bail out Washington. Some members of the Republican Party were willing to vote for a stand-alone legislation that would keep the government running and contained no health care-related provisions. The senate voted 54-46 to reject the House-passed measure that would have kept the government open but would have delayed implementation of the health care law for a year and permanently repealed a medical device tax that helps finance it. In response to the stand alone being denied house republicans would come to a budget agreement in exchange for a one year delay in a requirement in the health care law for individuals to purchase coverage. In this article, 5 Things to Know About Government Shutdown Paul Singer discussed the several issues that related to the government shutdown. In this article, Singer (2013) explains how the government asked for a 2.3% tax on medical devices enacted to help pay for the law, and a proposal to eliminate a proposed subsidy to members of Congress, their staffs, and members of the Obama administration to buy insurance in the new system. This is a matter of funding the government and providing fairness to the American people," said

Government Shutdown Community Problem Report Boehner. "Why wouldn't members of Congress vote for it?" (Boehner, 2013). Republicans knew if they surrendered and allowed the Democrats have their way it

would be difficult to get Republicans into Congress the time voting came around. So they had to hold their ground force a Government shutdown even if it meant looking like the stubborn Republicans. Simply the Affordable Health Care Act is the reason the two groups could not come to a budget. Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats were willing to come to an agreement on the budget. Since the funds were already in place to get it going the senate rejected each one and since the Republicans could not get their way they refused to work on the budget and decided to uphold the government and led us into a shutdown. This shutdown basically put peoples lives on hold over a health care reform that was going to start either way. On October 17th, the government budget was resolved. Since then the government has reopened. What Effects Did The Shutdown Have On The American People? When the government goes into a full shutdown, it has a different effect on people in America. It costs money for a government to shutdown and to reopen. Federal agencies have to plan for a shutdown to take place; it is taxpayer money that is used to finance the shutdown. The most recent shutdown during the Obama Administration lasted 16 days costing $24 billion dollars to the U.S. economy. Some federal offices and government agencies were shutdown or their workers were asked to work without pay. In their article, Government Shuts Down in Budget Impasse Jonathan Weisman and Jeremy W. Peters discussed the reasons why the government shutdown and its effects on the country. As explained in the article, Jonathan

Government Shutdown Community Problem Report Weisman and Jeremy W. Peters (2013) claim the government impasse meant that 800,000 federal workers were to be furloughed and more than a million others would be asked to work without pay. Social Security payments were sent out before the shutdown took place to ensure checks were sent to the people who depended on Social Security.

Even though many agencies were closed some who were able to keep themselves funded did not, the library of Congress, U.S. Census and other government departments kept the flow of information flowing. (CNN, 2013) Anything essential to the preservation of the countrys banking system remained open as well as taxes being collected and U.S. bonds being issued. (CNN Money, 2013) 368 National Parks throughout the United States were closed down (Simpson, 2013). Park Rangers had to keep visitors from trespassing into the parks. National museums were also closed as well as National Zoos. Being tourist attractions to many states, this also cost the U.S. money. Many people were outraged with the shutdown of National Parks and Zoos, it was evident during the shutdown how National attractions are important to Americans. National Parks, museums and zoos were quickly re-opened after the federal government resolved their issues. NASA, space exploration and any government weather websites were also put on hold. During the shutdown many people had to wait to receive medical test results and any diagnostic that had to do with government research. Aside from the lack of funds the nation had Medicare and Medicaid recipients and veterans continued to receive healthcare benefits. Affordable Healthcare was enforced the day the government shut down it was implemented during the shutdown due to it not being funded by the congressional budget process. (Simpson, 2013)

Government Shutdown Community Problem Report The shut down caused the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to close temporarily. Any permit or license being processed was put on hold until the government reached an agreement on a budget. (Simpson, 2013) The Social Security offices were unable to do name changes, issue replacement cards, Medicare cards and proof-of-income letters any paper work was put on hold. (CNN, 2013) Postal services even though funded by the government were kept open, as well as law enforcement, the fired department and hospitals. In six states Head Start preschool programs were forced to close until a Houston couple donated 10 million dollars to keep the programs running through the shutdown.

Americans who worked for federal offices through out the country were the most affected due to they had to keep working without pay. Many of the government offices and resources that were closed temporarily were made sure to be less critical to the country that allowed the U.S. to not go into complete panic. What Proposed Policies Can Be Made In Order To Prevent A Government Shutdown In The Future? In the previous years there have been many Government shutdowns, some long some short, many of them were caused by different reasons and conflicts within the government, mostly between the two political parties. However, even though there have been shutdowns, the government has found a way to work together to come to a conclusion for a resolution that was agreed upon by both political parties to re-open the government. That is when questions surface about what policy can they propose or change so a government shutdown will not happen again in the future?

Government Shutdown Community Problem Report 10 One of the steps that could be taken by the government to prevent a shutdown is to be proactive towards a shutdown. What do I mean by proactive? To act upon the government when it shows symptoms of a rising conflict that may lead to a shutdown. In this article, Democrats Tough Choice: Shutdown Government or Swallow GOPs Bill it is discussed how in 2011 Washington braced for a possible government shutdown, as President Obama and the House Representatives were racing toward a vote on a $1 trillion omnibus-spending bill. In their article Chaddock and Russell (2011) explain how the 1,219-page bill, as it was approved by the Senate and signed by President Obama, would avert a government shutdown. According to Lamarque and Reuters both journalist for the Washington Post, there has been a proposal of a new law the midst of the government for nearly three decades, on how to prevent a government shutdown. This Idea is to create a law that would keep the government open and running while congress seeks a solution to resolve the problem at hand. This would cause the government to run as if it were on autopilot (Lamarque/Reuters, 2013). A budget policy has also come up for discussion after the recent government shutdown during the Obama Administration. In the article: How to Avoid Another Shutdown by David Gamage and David Louk (2013) it is addressed how Congress believes that by implementing a default budget policy would take pressure off legislators to make last-minute bargains and would help restore and maintain the people's confidence in their elected officials to keep government running. The final strategy in resolving a government shutdown is collaboration within both parties of Congress. Lack of cooperation caused conflict with congress between the two parties of congress, Democratic representatives and the Republican representatives.

Government Shutdown Community Problem Report 11 What they also lacked was communication between each other, bypassing one another when it came to making big decisions in order to resolve the problem at hand (Yan/Cohen, 2013). In the past the government has come close to shutting down the government numerous times, the most recent in 2011. The Obama Administration was under pressure when the stop-gap measure for fiscal year 2012 spending, began October 1st, the government was running out of time and needed a solution. If the government did not come up with a conclusion by October first they ran the risk of shutting down the government. President Obama and the House Representatives were raced towards a vote on a $1 trillion omnibus spending bill. The 1,219-page bill, was approved by the Senate and signed by President Obama, averting a government shutdown. (Chaddock, 2011). In order for a government shutdown to be prevented in the future, there has to be collaboration within congress, the installation of a budget policy, and the ability to recognize signs of a possible shutdown. The government itself is responsible for causing and preventing a government shutdown. Conclusion In this report we gave an overview of the history of previous shutdowns, who and what the shutdown affected, and what policy changes could be made to help prevent a Government shutdown in the future. After all of our research, we concluded that Congress has the final decision for the U.S. to go into a shutdown; however it also holds the power to resolve the shutdowns and prevent them from taking place. It is important to raise awareness about this issue because it not only affects our government, but it affects the lives of the American people.

Government Shutdown Community Problem Report 12

References Cass, C. (2013). Government Shutdown History Explored. Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/30/governmentshutdown_n_4016032.html Cass C. ( 2013, October 28) Congress Could Prevent Shutdowns But That Might Create New Problems. The Washington Post. Retrieved from <http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/proposal-to-end-shutdown-threatmeets-resistance-some-political-some-practical/2013/10/28/b83ff37e-4002-11e3a751-f032898f2dbc_story.html> Chaddock. & Russell, G. (2011). Democrats' Tough Choice: Shut Down Government Or Swallow Gop's Bills. EBSCO HOST. Retrieved from
<http://0web.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/ehost/detail?vid=5&sid=b7942

b63-

8d59-4d42af64dd574b814bd5%40sessionmgr111&hid=125&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3Qtb Gl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=a9h&AN=69695392> Espo, D. (2013). U.S. Government shuts down for the first time in 17 years. Canadian Business Journal, volume 1(1), 1-1. Retrieved from http://0web.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/ehost/detail?vid=8&sid=413661e7-d894- 4521-

Government Shutdown Community Problem Report 13 9dfabdf6fe01c8b8%40sessionmgr113&hid=118&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3Q tbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=a9h&AN=90508909

Gamage ,D., & Louk, D. ( 2013, October 26) How To Prevent A Government Shutdown. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from <http://articles.latimes.com/2013/oct/20/opinion/la-oe-gamage-federal-budget20131020-13> Matthews, D. (2013). Here Is Every Previous Government Shutdown, Why They Happened and How They Ended. The Washington Post: National, World & D.C. Area News and Headlines - The Washington Post. Retrieved from <http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/09/25/here-is-everyprevious-government-shutdown-why-they-happened-and-how-they-ended/> Rovner, & Lancet, J. (1995). Budget Fight Shuts Down US Government. Vol. 346, Issue 8987. EBSCO HOST. Retrieved from. http://0web.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/ehost/detail?vid=5&sid=b7942b63-8d59-4d42-af64dd574b814bd5%40sessionmgr111&hid=125&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY 29wZT1zaXRl#db=a9h&AN=9512183472 Sahadi, J. (2013, September 16). Your Guide to a Government Shutdown. CNN Money. Retrieved from < http://money.cnn.com/2013/09/16/news/economy/governmentshutdown/> Simpson, D., & Ahmed, S. (2013) 10 Ways A Government Shutdown Will Affect Your Life. CNN Politics. Retrieved from <http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/23/politics/government-shutdown-daily

Government Shutdown Community Problem Report 14 life/index.html> Weisman, J. (2013, September 30). Government Shuts Down in Budget Impasse. The New York Times. Retrieved from <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/01/us/politics/congress- shutdowndebate.html?_r=1&>